So you want to make a MMORPG

Well, this may or not be a shock, but the best way to get into the game industry is to start making games. This means, code (don't shudder, it's really not that bad). I would reccommend something like the upcoming playkode (biggerplanet.com), blitz basic (http://www.blitzbasic.com/), or C if you're brave (and have some prior knowledge of programming like Javascript). Many of us would be glad to help you get started, but the bottom line is that game design, while important, is nothing without coding, and coding, while fun at times, is hard.

First off, even if you see a job and Blizzard for game design, the best game designers know what the programmers have to do, and don't make excessive demands. A MMORPG is the largest project possible in the gaming world, and it is likely that none of us here could do this project even if we wanted to. MMORPGs require massive budgets, a tightly integrated team of programmers, artists, designers, and content people, as well as play testers and management/advertising. In short, way outside the normal budget of indie developers. I'm not saying that your project is impossible; you do not have enough experiance/capitol to realistically undertake it at the moment.

Good ideas will fly, but you've got to have more than and idea. An idea is meaningless until you actually do something about it. Coming to this forum is a good idea, you're at the right place. I'm sorry so say that you'll likely get flamed by people who equate "I would like to begin work on a MMORPG, can I get some help?" with "I wanna mak gamez! D00 werk 4 me pl33z!"

I would suggest you follow this route:
1. Learn to program, at least to a certain degree. This will put your idea's feasability into perspective with your resources. It will also improve your credability.

2. Start small. A MMORPG is at the opposite end of the spectrum. Begin by programming Pong or another simple classic, but show your design genius by making it many times better than the original, or better yet, make a new game that is equally simple but new and brilliant. People will love you for this.

3. Work your way up through the technology. David Rosen started this way, (wolfire.com). Check out Lugaru, but then look up Fire Pong, one of his earlier games, on google. I loved fire pong and I love Lugaru. He has skill and he proved it.

4. When the oppertunity arises, begin your MMORPG. Read: Not today, tomorrow, or even next month. I began programming when I was 8. You can do it too. I now know 13 distinct programming languages to varying degrees, and I am not even done my second game. It's 8 years later. I don't claim to be wise, or even talented, but I believe that I have improved somewhat and am closer to my goal of making a full RPG some day. It's a passion of mine. I'm also going to start it next summer. This stuff takes time.

5. Do not give up. This IS a realistic goal, but not for today. Today you should learn about variables and control structures. If you give up, your idea is lost forever.

I hope this helps you, although I make no claim towards being wise and all knowing (That would be OSC). You must decide: do I want to take on game development as a hobby, or should I find another outlet for my artistic ability?

To some people that just arrived here and read that, excellent post it was, some of it doesn't make too much sense in context. Mostly this bit:

Quote: Good ideas will fly, but you've only begun. An idea is meaningless until you actually do something about it. Coming to this forum is a good idea, you're at the right place. I'm sorry if you get flamed by people who think you are hopelessly immature and inexperianced, your post is actually pretty good.

This post was posted as a reply to someone who had an idea for a mmorpg that they had been developing (not on a computer, on paper) for around two years. Just trying to make that clear to those reading...

Quote: A MMORPG is the largest project possible in the gaming world, and it is likely that none of us here could do this project even if we wanted to. MMORPGs require massive budgets, a tightly integrated team of programmers, artists, designers, and content people, as well as play testers and management/advertising.

I'm not sure if I believe all that, sure most of us won't be able to do it but the fact that you require all those people isn't completely accurate. Life becomes a lot, and I mean a lot more easier if you do have all those people, but eternal lands is an example of a game which doesn't. A guy coded it and his wife did all the graphics and stuff and they got it popular enough for people to volunteer to do map design. You may want to check out the postmortem of it, I found it on a pc game programming website, can't recall where; GIYF.

Joseph Duchesne Wrote:A MMORPG is the largest project possible in the gaming world, and it is likely that none of us here could do this project even if we wanted to. MMORPGs require massive budgets, a tightly integrated team of programmers, artists, designers, and content people, as well as play testers and management/advertising. In short, way outside the normal budget of indie developers. I'm not saying that your project is impossible; you do not have enough experiance/capitol to realistically undertake it at the moment.

Thats a very general question, If you care to supply some more info about your goals we might be able to help you more. Things like your programming experince if any, what kind of game you want to make, ect.

When you refer to "here" I have no clue what you mean. As far as making a RPG game or any 3D game you will need to know some programming. I suggest you pick up some books on Blitz Basic, Cocoa, or C/C++, to get a base in programming. As far as graphics are concerned I would pick up a book or two on OpenGL but there are other options available for graphics.

You still havent told us if you have any programming experince. Any specific questions you might have we will all be more then happy to answer, but your questions remain pretty open ended.